There are few things more frustrating for a blogger than to write some amazing new content but fail to get the views it deserves. On the other hand, being able to see lots of hits as soon as it is posted is just about the best feeling in the world.
The problem is that blog readers, even the most loyal readers, won’t keep returning on the off chance of finding new content. This is why something as important as blog readership can never be left to mere chance and bloggers must take the initiative to encourage their readers to keep coming back for more.
Obviously your content is well-written, relevant, up-to-date, informative and highly targeted to your particular niche, but that alone is not sufficient to maximize traffic to your blog.
Even if your blog theme looks great, the images are eye-catching and the entire blog is engaging and exciting, you could still be missing out on traffic to your new posts.
Using RSS Feeds (Rich Site Summary, but often also called Really Simple Syndication) has traditionally been one way of driving traffic to your blog and ensuring that your new content gets seen.
When a user subscribes to a site’s RSS feed, their browser does the regular checking for new content and sends out an alert when it finds some.
RSS is also not without its drawbacks – it has been rapidly declining in popularity over the last decade, has always been seen as rather nerdy and does nothing to help build up relationships between blogger and blog readers.
A Google Trends search for the term “RSS” shows the huge decrease in popularity for this search term since its height in 2005. Google searches for “RSS” have declined by around 90% in the past 10 years and are forecast to drop even further in the year ahead.
Thankfully there is a more mainstream, far less nerdy and really simple solution to help bloggers engage with their readers and send out alerts each time new content is posted.
The solution is email marketing software such as RocketResponder where, instead of getting alerts from an impersonal RSS Feed, blog subscribers receive an email directly from the blog owner informing them of new content. In addition, subscribers can reply to these emails, allowing the blogger to receive instant feedback, alerting them to problems or suggesting ways their blog could be improved.
Using email to automatically send new content alerts has another powerful advantage for the blogger as it allows clicks to links within the email to be tracked. Now bloggers who use targeted email lists to send new content alerts can easily see which content is most popular and which is not so attractive to their subscribers.
An email address list alert system actually does far more than just send out alerts. Bloggers can ask for feedback, build anticipation by providing information about upcoming blog posts and provide additional content which is exclusive to their blog subscribers.
RocketResponder has been specifically designed for use by bloggers to alert subscribers to their new content. See how easy it is to set up as an alert tool for new blog content:
RocketResponder Blog: How To Drive Traffic To Your Blog With RocketResponder
